Electrically conductive article of footwear



Feb. l, 1955 s. LEWIS ET A1. 2,701,323

ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR Filed March 4, 1952 INVENTRSSycZnQ/'ewz's and BY J5/272 Jfooznayv United States Patent OELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE ARTICLE F FOOTWEAR Sidney Lewis, Forest Hills,and John J. Bodnar, White Plains, N. Y., assignors to Melrose HospitalUniform Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication March 4, 1952, Serial No. 274,802

3 Claims. (Cl. 317-2) The present invention relates to conductivefootwear and, more particularly, to a conductive wrapper designed to beworn partially outside and partially inside an ordinary non-conductivefootwear.

In order to avoid ether explosions during an operation, doctors andnurses are required to remove and exchange their ordinary non-conductivestreet shoes for conductive shoes before entering the operating room.Moreover, others who work in the presence of explosive vapors, gases,dust, and the like, must also wear special conductive shoes. Thesespecial conductive shoes have many disadvantages. They are inconvenientdue to necessity for exchange from normal street shoes. Moreover, manyof these special conductive shoes are uncomfortable due to theirparticular shape or size and, of course, they are always generallyexpensive.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a conductivewrapper which is worn with an ordinary non-conductive shoe for use bynurses, doctors and others who are exposed to the presence of explosivegases, vapors or dust, and which Wrapper is provided with means wherebythe body of the wearer is eectively grounded at all times so as toprevent an igniting spark due to electrostatic discharge.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a conductivewrapper having a relatively large ap which may be disposed between thestockinged foot of the wearer and the inner sole of the ordinarynon-conductive shoe, which ap serves to facilitate the passage of staticcharges from the body of the wearer to the ground, and which flap due toits position in the shoe prevents slippage of the slipper.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a conductivewrapper to be worn with an ordinary non-conductive shoe and which may beplaced over the ordinary non-conductive shoe in a matter of a fewseconds and with a maximum of ease.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide aconductive wrapper which may be worn with various size non-conductiveshoes.

Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide aconductive wrapper to be worn with a nonconductive shoe which is ofsimple construction and which can be produced at a cost much less thanthat of the aforementioned special type conductive shoes.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent as it is described below in detail with particular reference tothe accompanying iigures, wherein Figure 1 is an elevational view inpartial section, showing the conductive wrapper of the present inventionworn over an ordinary non-conductive shoe, and further showing how thebody of the wearer is grounded by the conductive slipper;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the conductive wrapper comprising the presentinvention;

cliig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; an

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modified form of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, we have provided a conductivewrapper adapted to be worn with an ordinary non-conductive shoecomprising a sole portion, a vamp portion, and a ap portion extendingoutwardly from the sole portion, which sole and flap portions establisha conductive path for static charges.

With particular reference to Figure l, there is shown 2,701,323 PatentedFeb. 1, 1955 a conductive wrapper 11 adapted to be worn over an ordinarynon-conductive shoe 10. The wrapper 11 has a sole portion 12 whichconforms to the general outline of the bottom of a conventional shoe. Aiiap portion 13 is attached to the rear of the sole portion 12 andextends rearwardly and outwardly thereof. The flap portion may be anintegral part of said sole portion, as shown in Fig. 2, or it may be aseparate piece of material fastened to said sole portion in any wellknown or suitable manner. Both the sole portion 12 and ap portion 13 aremade of a conductive material so that static charges may pass easilytherefrom to the ground.

As shown in Fig. 2, the shape of the sole portion 12 is made to conformwith the general shape of the bottom of an ordinary shoe and the flap 13may consist of a strip of material which is narrower than the sole 12.The length and width of the ilap 13 will depend upon the various sizesof the wrapper 11 that are manufactured, but in any event the surfacearea of the ilap should be large enough so that sufcient contact isestablished with the stockinged foot of the wearer. Since a wrapper suchas we have shown does not have to conform rigidly in size and shape tothe shoe of the wearer, it is only necessary that several sizes such assmall, medium and large be manufactured.

A strip 14 of non-conductive material, such as ordinary canvas, isattached to the sides of the front of the sole portion 12 by means ofstitching 15. This strip 14 serves as a vamp for the wrapper and isadapted to encircle the front top portion of the shoe 10, when thewrapper is worn.

When the wrapper 11 is in position over the shoe 10, as seen best inFig. l, the sole portion 12 extends the length of the bottom of the shoeand is in contact with the ground. At the same time, the flap 13 extendsupwardly from the rear of the heel 16 of the shoe along the back of theheel casing 17, then down the inner portion of the back of the heelcasing and along the innersole 18 until it overlies the shank portion 19of the shoe. Thus any static charges that have accumulated on the bodyof the wearer, are able to pass from his foot to the ap 13, then alongthe ap 13 to the sole portion 12, and thence to the ground thuseffectively preventing any sudden electrostatic discharge which mightresult in sparking.

When placing the wrapper 11 on the shoe, the wearer simply unloosens thelaces of the shoe and lifts his heel out of the shoe. Then he passes thefront portion of the shoe between the strip 14 and the sole 12 and tucksthe ap 13 into the shoe so that it overlies the shank portion 19. Thewearer then replaces his heel into the shoe 10 and refastens the laces.As the wearer replaces his heel into the shoe 10, he causes the ap 13 toassume the position shown in Fig. l.

Figure 4 represents a modified form of the present invention whereinthere is shown a conductive wrapper 20 having a generally T-shapedportion 21 which is made of the same aforementioned conductive material.This T-shaped portion 21 comprises a sole portion 22 and two side flaps23 and 23', all of which are integrally joined together. A strip ofnon-conductive material 24 is connected to both sides of the front ofthe sole portion 21 so as to form a vamp.

When wrapper 20 is in position on the foot of the wearer, the side flaps23 and 23 extend up along the sides of the heel casing of the streetshoe and then down into the shoe so that the flaps are superimposed overthe heel portion of the shoe.

With the wrapper shown in both forms of the invention, it can be readilyseen that there will be no slippage of the wrapper since the wearer iscontinually standing upnzgither the extension portion 13 or the sideflaps 23 an At the same time, it can be readily seen in both cases thata relatively large contact area is provided between the foot of thewearer and the Wrapper 11 so that there is a readily accessible path forstatic charges to ow from the body of the wearer to the ground.

The conductive material from which the sole and ap portions are made maybe a conductive rubber material or thin flexible leather, which has beenspecially treated to render it conductive. For that matter any thinexible conductive material may also be employed in the wrapper.

While the invention has been described in detail and shown with respectto the accompanying drawings, it is not to be limited to such details,since many changes and modifications may be made in the inventionwithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Hence, it isdesired to cover any and all forms and modifications of the inventionwhich may come within the language and scope of any one or more of theappended claims.

We claim:

l. A grounding device for attachment to a wearers shoe comprising afoldable strip of flexible fibrous electroconductive material having afront sole portion shaped for conforming substantially to the bottom ofthe outer sole of the shoe and a rear extended portion, a vamp formed ofpliable material secured to the said front sole portion at oppositesides thereof and near the front end of said front portion and forming aloop of increasing cross sectional area along the length of said stripfrom front to rear, the loop being proportioned for engaging the vamp ofthe shoe and holding the front sole portion of the strip in matingengagement with the bottom of the out sole of the shoe, said rearextended portion of said strip having a width substantially at least asgreat as the heel of the shoe, and length for underlying the heel, withan extension for folding upward over the outside of the vertical heelportion of the shoe, across the edge thereof, downward along the insidesurface into engagement with the insole of the shoe, and horizontallyover the insole for forming an electrical connection between the uppersurface of the insole and the bottom surface of the outsole.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the extended portion of said stripis formed along the longitudinal axis of the strip for folding directlyover the rear surface of the upper heel portion.

3. The structure of claim l comprising two extensions, one extendinglaterally outward on each side of said strip and both of which arefoldable upward on the outside of the vertical portion of the shoeacross the edge thereof, downward along the inside surface of the shoeand 1into engagement with the insole of the shoe over the mso e.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 497,822Royer May 23, 1893 1,940,491 Freitag Dec. 19, 1933 2,279,094 Siers Apr.7, 1942 2,287,744 Monahan June 23, 1942

